Remodelling & House Extension to family home in Conservation Area by RIBA Architects

CONTEMPORARY CONSERVATION IN MACCLESFIELD

Ambition
Combining lives and families, Dave and Claire bought this detached 1960’s house between Prestbury and Macclesfield to bring together four children and separate lives. The house was built before the area was designated a Conservation Area and hadn’t been updated presenting a fantastic opportunity to create a tailored family home. A full programme of modernisation was required to meet the family’s lifestyle aspirations, today’s living expectations and to better integrate within the Conservation Area.

With four teenage children between them space and privacy was key. This modest home needed to double in size. A wide dwelling on a narrow plot, space would need to be innovatively acquired.

In addition, contemporary design needed to be balanced with the character of the Macclesfield Conservation Area and its planning restrictions. Proximity to neighbouring properties called for a sympathetic design, while a link to the mature gardens would become central to the architectural design.

Action
Restrictions on raising the ridge height of the roof limited any upward movement due to the Conservation Area. By extending to the front and rear Hunter Architects expanded the house to accommodate its new residents. These front and rear extensions facilitated improving the overall aesthetics of the existing house.

The house gained an additional bedroom as well as extended the existing rooms, four en-suite bathrooms and a family bathroom on the first floor. We swept the house backwards on the ground floor, designing an extensive family room organising doors and the fireplace around the garden, creating that vital central link. An office and separate living room provided further private space for the family. The garage was widened to accommodate a family car, while the pitch of its roof enabled additional living space upstairs.

Mindful of light, the sense of space is neither compromised nor stifled. By incorporating the area’s two-storey aspects, gable ends and local materials, the property’s design is both considerate and aesthetic.

Transformation
Transformed and almost unrecognisable, this out-dated Macclesfield house has become a modern family home. Welcomed by neighbours and securing planning permission with ease after initial reticence from the Cheshire East Council Planning Officer and Conservation Area Officer, the design achieved that most essential architectural objective: balance. This home offers a style of living both effortless and enduring, sure to support its owners now and into the future.

Summary:

Remodelling & House Extension in Conservation Area in Macclesfield RIBA Architects

Photographs/Images © Hunter Architects & Planners